22nd January, 2023
Gombe state government has denied issuing an order for the arrest of a radio journalist for hosting a member of the New Nigeria People’s Party (NNPP) as alleged by the party.
The denial was made after a journalist working with Jewel FM Gombe, alongside his guest, was reportedly arrested and detained by the Police after hosting a programme.
Speaking on the arrest, Alhaji Shuaibu Gara, Special adviser to Gov. Inuwa Yahaya on information management and strategy said:
“What we know is that the government complained to the police that we monitored a 30-minute radio programme where a guest was invited to a political programme.
“And in the programme, the guest alleged that the government spent N4 billion to fence the government House.
“We presented to the police our records for the entire state budget for maintenance of all public buildings between 2019 and 2022. To give him a fair hearing we equally wanted the police to ask him to provide his evidence.
“How can someone say that we spent over N4 billion just to fence Government House alone?
“When confronted by investigators, the suspect does not even know how many millions makeup N1 billion,” he said.
He further challenged the opposition to provide proof that any journalist was arrested, adding that the government only tabled a complaint to the police against the radio guest who made unfounded allegations against the government.
“Gombe state government did not order the arrest of any journalist, anyone who claims that a journalist was arrested, let the journalist show us his accreditation by the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ),” he said.
Gara further appealed to the public who wants to get any information from the government to follow the appropriate channel.